why poor mitt was dragged out onto the tarmac in his windbreaker after an exhausting day in new york in case you're wondering why he's busting from westerville to budedford heights to toledo that's because romney's path to the white house is facing one giant obstacle. here's a hint. it's round on the sides and high in the middle. case in point, the latest new york times/abc news poll giving president obama a ten-point lead in ohio. the fourth poll to give the incumbent a wide advantage in the state. and enough for abc news to move the state's crucial 18 electoral votes out of battleground staters to lean obama. and as we now know the devil's in the details with romney failing to make the sale on almost any issue, including the economy where he's at a six-point deficit to the president. six points on the economy?

oh, my ohio. mitt romney knows that's trouble. and in a brand new ad one reason is clear, as romney plays face the camera doing his best damage control over that 47% video. >> president obama and i both care about poor and middle class families. the difference is my policies will make things better for them. >> and, cut. very good. that was marginally convincing. maybe a little more -- tell you what here's an example of a politician speaking this afternoon in bowling green with genuine authenticity and commitment. >> my opponent may think it's fair that someone who makes $20 million a year like he does pays a lower rate than a teacher, i disagree. i don't think that's fair. i don't think it helps grow our economy. i refuse to ask middle class families to give up their deductions for owning a home or looking after their kids just to

pay for another millionaire's tax cuts. we're not going to do that. >> dear me. did we mention ohio voting starts in six days? i'm delighted to be joined now by former ohio governor ted strickland with us from columbus. good afternoon, sir. >> good afternoon. >> governor there is still plenty of time for mr. romney to make inroads in your fair state, but why do you think he's doing so badly? is it because he had done nothing to save the auto industry? is it because he says he doesn't care about half the population of the country? or is it because nobody understands what he stands for outside of tax cuts? >> all of the above, martin. beginning when we found out he had a swiss bank account, investments in the caymen islands -- >> switzer land. >> outsourcer of jobs. he went on and on and on. his wife has two cadillacs, an elevator for his cars in his home. and then he says on videotape that he's writing off 47% of the

american people just basically talking in the most disdainful way about good hard working americans. veterans, poor people who are working their hearts out to make a living. >> governor have ii have to -- i'm sorry, i have to interrupt you because mr. romney and mr. ryan are saying it's the president who are into social divisiveness. they are the ones splitting the countries between the have and have nots. they're the one playing the wealth disparity card. >> well, quite the opposite. you know i was a psychologist before i was a political person. in psychology we say that sometimes if someone's got a problem, that they tend to talk about it in ways that is very contradictory to their own feelings. the fact is that mitt romney said 47% of the american people basically are free-loaders

parasites. he was talking about good hard working, salt of the earth, ohioans, americans. that started a narrative that built up over a series of months as we watched this man and watched this campaign. and that video confirmed for many ohioans exactly what they were thinking this man may be like. and he can say all he wants to say about class warfare, but he's the one waging it. you know he pays 14.1% in federal income tax. the average ohioan pays more than 20% in federal income tax. >> i'm sorry, sir, you're wrong about that. actually -- he actually paid 9%. he voluntarily paid an additional amount. >> that's right. >> -- in order to be consistent with his original promise. but, in fact if he had been according to the letter of the requirements of the tax code, his tax rate would have been 9%. >> after he said someone who paid more taxes -- that they

were required to be would be disqualified to be the president. he gamed the system. he pretended he was paying a higher rate because he didn't take the full deductions from his charitable contribution. that's gaming the system. this is par for the course for this man, martin. having a swiss bank account, he's gaming the system. >> according to the very latest polling, the president is actually leading mr. romney on virtually every single subject. the economy, health care social security immigration. the only subject mr. romney is polling better on than the president is the budget plan and his plans have been described as mathematically impossible. do you think mr. romney really thought he could fight this election by simply blaming the president but not having any content of his own? do you think that was his strategy? >> well i think that was his strategy. then he chose paul ryan and they claim to be fiscally

conservative people but paul ryan's budget that mitt romney called a marvelous budget would not achieve balance for 30 years. so, they aren't even fiscally responsible. across the board, you know they've run a campaign that has blamed the president, blamed the president. they have no new ideas of their own. they simply want to go back to the bush agenda. more tax cuts for really wealthy people. putting an additional tax burden on working people. and looking down their noses in the most disdainful way, martin. >> yes. >> and i think mitt romney spoke from his heart when he talked about 47% of the american people basically being parasites. >> you are the psychologist, so only you can make a comment about that. but i'm so glad you mentioned paul ryan because he was on the trail today. and he was dispatched to colorado. where he took a question from a woman, who makes $350 every two weeks and cannot get off

welfare. here's the conclusion to his rather lengthy insubstantial answer. >> a hand up a hand out. teach a man to fish, he can feed himself for a life. don't simply feed fish. >> don't feed the fish? feed the 5,000? what is this man talking about? >> well a trite almost insultingnessinsult ing answer to a serious question. there are struggling americans looking for real answers. all they're hearing from romney/ryan is tax cuts for the wealthy. let this trickle down system that's failed us in the past let's go back to that try it at least one more time. let's enrich our wealthy friends. and it's not selling in ohio, martin. and i don't believe it's going to sell across the country. because people understand these are difficult times. the president is working. he's got a serious agenda. he's a focused, mature man.

and all they're doing is trying to tear him down and make themselves an alternative. you know, they wanted to make this a referendum on barack obama. it has become a referendum on mitt romney and paul ryan. and because of that -- >> yes, sir. but in your state, mr. romney hasn't been helped much by local republicans, for example, governor cass governor kassic. and i want to play you a batch of back tape. take a listen. >> i hope you all know that ohio's coming back. from 48th in job creation to number four. number one in the midwest. we have grown 123,000 jobs in the state of ohio. our families are going back to work. >> my heart aches for the people. income's going down. every year going down, down, down. these are tough times, even for

families with jobs. >> governor it's tough isn't it, because kasich wants to talk about the economy uptick only for romney to come in and say the state is cratering. >> romney was talking about ohio under governor taft. the recovery had already started because of the recovery act and because of the salvation of the auto industry. and president obama doesn't credit for what's happening in ohio. but you're right, they have contradictory messages. and mitt romney's coming here to ohio and trying to say everything is doom and gloom but our economy is on the rebound and it's on the rebound in large part because our president gave us the stimulus bill, the recovery act, which enabled me and other governors across america to keep our states from falling ever deeper into a depression. and then the president

intervened rescued the american auto industry went out of every eight jobs in ohio is related to that vital industry. that's why the president is ten points ahead, according to "the new york times" poll, and i think is going to win ohio. martin, no republican has ever won the presidency without winning ohio. and i don't think -- i don't think he has a chance of winning ohio in this election. that means the president will be re-elected for a second term. >> we should also say that unemployment in ohio is now down to 7.2%. former ohio governor, ted strickland. thank you, sir for joining us. >> hey, thank you, martin. thank you for having me. >> thank you sir. next is is there trouble in the romney/ryan relationship? stay with us. >> folks, modern conservativeism means limited government and the self-evident truth tax breaks for the wealthy are good for the poor. it's like the old saying, the rich get richer -- hooray!

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putrid. "the new york times" quoting a gop operative that says if ryan wants to run for office again, he'll probably have to wash the stench of romney off him. in a farce, ryan is heard referring to him running mate as stench. reportedly he has been marching and stench calls, take a message. joining us is jonathan capehart washington post columnist, and ken vogel, chief investigative reporter for politico. i need to start by playing you a clip at a paul ryan rally today who told him she can't get off welfare. she asks him what he should do -- what she should do. his answer is that we must grow the economy, not allow the president's welfare work

requirement. then in a long, rambling answer this is what he recommends. >> a hand up not a hand out. teach a man to fish he can feed himself for a life. don't simply feed fish. >> don't simply feed fish. >> that's not terribly empathetic -- or sympathetic. >> it's bonkers, isn't it 1234? >> i don't know about bonkers. the poor man is stuck -- >> he's talking about feeding fish now. >> yes he's talking about feeding fish -- >> but he uses the proverb, give a man a fish once -- >> the problem he has is he's stuck in this mind set, in the long term a good thing to be worried about deficit and debt and the practice jeker to it's put this country on but there's a woman saying to him, i -- i'm on welfare, i want to get off and i can't. she's looking to him --

>> she's actually working. she's earning and getting government assistance. >> clearly she doesn't want to be getting government assistance. >> no. >> what she's looking to him for is, tell me how you're going to help me get off government assistance. he can't quite seem to get there for her. >> no. ken, paul ryan was supposed to bring bold ideas and conservatives on board. you report he was supposed to help with a small dollar donors that romney has struggled to attract but it hasn't happened. so who's to blame? is it mr. ryan or the stench? >> i don't know about the stench but that's -- zhou don't think it's the stench to blame? >> i do -- >> romney? >> romney has made it difficult for ryan to be paul ryan. like you said, paul ryan was brought on because of these bold ideas. most namely, the ryan plan, the ryan budget proposal. and no sooner had he been brought on mitt romney was retreating from it and paul ryan was not referring to it at all.

in fact mitt ryan -- zoo excuse me, mitt romney was -- >> just call him the stench. >> asking him about the $716 billion in medicare cuts that the paul ryan plan would put into effect one of the more controversial portions of it. mitt romney backtracked and said, i'm the guy running for president, not him. i think that in a nutshell sums up the predictment of paul ryan. he can't play to his strengths. >> is it time for more republicans to stand upwind of mitt romney? >> look i think with 41 days -- you're not going to get me to say it. i'm not saying it martin. >> okay. >> with 41 days left in the campaign, and the grumbling we're hearing about let ryan be ryan clearly folks have decided governor romney is beyond help. governor romney doesn't to want listen to outside forces how he

can help right his campaign governor -- excuse me congressman ryan is someone young enough and does have bold ideas. it might not be the right ones for the country but at least in a town devoid of ideas, he has them, that can be debated. he's young enough if the romney/ryan ticket loses in november, he still gets to return to washington assuming he wins re-election to his seat which most likely will happen but he gets to go back to washington as a leader in his party, who can still take up the fight. >> ken, when people say, as jonathan just did, that paul ryan should be unleashed, he was unleashed before the aarp conference where he took his 78-year-old mother and he was allowed to say what he believes about medicare and they booed and abused him throughout his speech. i mean he's off the leash there. what's wrong with that? >> well, i mean that would be some conservatives who are arguing for more of a -- a ryanizing of mitt romney as

opposed a romneyizing of paul ryan. those bolder ideas, popular for some on the conservative base definitely bold are nonetheless going to attract some criticism, as they did in this situation. and they would, i think, probably his supporters would say that you take the bad with the good. nonetheless, we're seeing very little of really a chance for him to even get to that point where his ideas are being debated on their merits. he's towing the romney line and serving in a vp role. we should point out that's traditionally the role running mates take. he's number two. if romney loses with enhanced stature or not, i think that's when you start getting into this idea that his brand may be compromised here. >> or that he may actually smell now. >> here's the thing.

governor romney said in the "60 minutes" interview, i'm the candidate and we'll be talking about my plan we're going to release in a wild. we're still waiting on that. >> jonathan capehart ken vogel, thank you to both. next team romney, union men? stay with us. >> i want to see some experienced referees with nfl experience come back onto the nfl playing fields. >> i have a lot of good friends, the owner of the miami dolphins and the new york jets, both owners are friends of mine. [ male announcer ] at scottrade we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our teams have the information you want when you need it. it's another reason more

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end. the president himself tweeted, nfl fans on both sides of the aisle hope the refs' lockout is settled soon. no doubt coming from a man who likes his bears and the right to union. roger goodell calling the nfl restructure socialism. what gives for the romney/ryan ticket, that union-busting, build it yourself trickle down team that prefers private equity to public demonstrations? because no sooner had golden tate emerged with the football than packer-backer paul ryan let loose. >> i got to start off on something that was really troubling that occurred last night. did you guys watch that packer game last night? i mean, give me a break. it is time to get the real refs. >> and then it was mr. romney

sport himself, piling on at the line of scrimmage. >> i just wanted to see some experienced referees with nfl experience come back onto the nfl playing fields. >> let's get this straight. when it comes to the nfl, mr. romney and mr. ryan want the owners some of whom romney counts as personal friend to get a deal done as quickly as possible so that the real pros can get back to officiating. but when it comes to police or firefighters or heaven forbid those dreadful teacher, well what's the rush? bleed them dry. for their latest hypocrisy, this time concerning organized labor, we throw our own penalty flag at mr. romney and mr. ryan. that's ten yards for pandering and now your back's squarely against the goal. stay with us.

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it's only been four days. >> high benefits for low income people and higher benefits for high income people. >> that's redistribution! >> if obama wins that's the end of the republican party. >> the republican party doesn't last long once the black guy shows up. >> romney/ryan. >> did you watch that packer game last night? give me a break. >> every now and then i'm known to make a mistake. >> the golden bear. >> the greatest athlete of the 20th century. >> i play a lot of golf. >> nixon plays golf. >> i don't want to whine and complain, if i was romney in the first ten minutes, i would have -- bam. >> they get you here right here. >> is he a good dancer? >> he's gotten to be a better dancer. >> you really put your foot down. >> stop it. this is hard. you want to try it? get in the ring. >> oh my? was i a little strong? >> when you go after my man -- >> everyone is giving me high fives. >> do you think this would be going better if he had nominated

someone else? >> and what's burning down here? >> if you don't man up you got to shut up. >> this is a guy that cares for the 100%. >> we use fairly right now so people don't get tired of her. >> let's get right to our panel now. we're joined by goldie taylor managing editor of the goldie taylor project, jimy williams and julian epstein. julian, if i might begin with you. we saw ann romney last night on with jay leno. she wondered if she had come off a little strong last week when she chastised all of us when we didn't realize how lucky we are for having her husband run for president. what did you think of the more humble mrs. romney? >> i don't critique -- >> stop it. stop it. this is hard. get in the ring. get in the wring. >> she does have -- >> stop it. >> -- about watching your spouse -- watching your spouse

take a shellacking is a difficult job for any spouse. and this just isn't a normal shellacking we're talking about. we're talking about a loss in november that could put the republicans into a permanent minority status. and i think you'll start hearing two words. one, mandate. two, landslide. because that's the way things are looking. you talk to professionals and they will tell you off camera it is getting increasingly unlikely to impossible that romney has a path in the electoral college here. >> goldie, do you agree with julien julien? >> i agree with julien the path for mitt romney is certainly narrowing. i know that if my husband were taking the kind of public flogging mitt romney is now, some of it self you know, asked for, i, too would be a bit upset about that. but women who are running alongside their husband, intending to be first ladies in

this country, have a double duty. one to give a more gentile face for their family their husband, two, to validate their values. i don't know that ann romney has risen to that occasion. it's going to get tougher for her, tougher for mitt as the last 40 days go on. >> let's talk about someone the republican party is proud of congressman akin. the deadline for him to drop out of the missouri senate race has passed. he's their guy. he's being embraced by jim demint rick santorum and newt gingrich. that will get him the women's vote, yes? >> i don't think i've been this giddy in my 20 years in politics, i'll be brutally honest with you. listen, this is a bad thing for the republicans. if you look at every single republican running for the higher office in the building behind me go state by state, go to never never, florida, go to every single one of them

anti-equal gay rights. every one of them want to be in a woman's bedroom or doctor's office. every single one don't think our personal privacy or freedoms is something to be legislated. todd akin is at the top of the list. he's the king of being invasive and violating the pajama test. if you're wearing your pajamas, the government should not be involved. he's right of the right. missouri is turning more right than i thought it would be at this time. he still probably could lose. that's amazing to me. i'd be interested in what goldie as a woman, and what julien as a strategist might think. i think he's a bad candidate and claire mccaskill may sail through. >> julien, we know that mr. ryan co-sponsored bills with the very same todd akin. i mean why isn't mr. ryan applauding and supporting mr. akin's run for the senate in missouri? >> look they're running away

from it. i think the fact he's still in the race shows the republican establishment does not really have that much power anymore. that's a story that hasn't been reported on. the two impressions you're left with with this republican party during this entire election season, when it comes to social issues, as jimmy pointed out, akin on the women's issue, hispanic issues, it's the archie bunker hour for the republican party. when it comes to economic issues it's more like an episode of "signfield" in that it's a campaign about nothing. not a single economic idea other than to cut taxes. as i've pointed out before taxes are at 15% of gdp, the lowest in 60 years. the idea the republicans want to build a campaign on lowering them even further just seems to be empty-headed and slightly brain dead. this is a party that has not a single appealing idea that they put out publicly during this campaign season. it's remarkable because the republican party ten years ago did not used to be this way. it was very good at national campaigns. as jimmy has said this has been

a pat thetic campaign. >> goldie mitt romney has been running for the highest office in the atlanta for six years. he's now got 42 days. he's been running for six years. is he going to surprise us in the next four five weeks with something spectacular that's going to turn this around? stop laughy, jimmy. >> in order for mitt romney to surprise us, he would have to literally sweep, you know the battleground field. that just isn't going to happen. you know, i'll take it back to missouri for a minute. you know, we really thought that missouri would be in play because of someone like akin. but as akin said his base will turn out in an earthquake and you had best believe those evangelicals in missouri are going to give it a real go. claire mccaskill is not out of the woods yet. the rncs today may be putting money back into missouri. you haven't seen them completely abandon him since that deadline has passed. but in terms of mitt romney

he's going to run away from somebody like akin. let akin win or lose on his own because he's got to go after independence. at this late stage, i think that battle is already lost. >> jimmy the joker, you have the final word. >> he needs to watch "wizard of oz," he needs a heart, brain and courage. he's got neither one. >> good luck with that. >> goldie taylor, jimy williams julien. mitt romney talks tough on china after divesting from china. >> of course it's great to have senator rob portman. you know he debates me from time to time. he's playing barack obama in these mock debates we have. i don't like him very much anymore. he keeps beating me up. ♪ ♪ [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... ♪ ♪ [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] you may be an allergy muddler. try zyrtec®.

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proverb, so everywhere he goes mitt romney says he'll confront the chinese and stop them from cheating the american worker and the american economy. >> when people cheat, that kills jobs. china has cheated. there are countries like china that cheat. i will stop them from cheating and stealing american jobs. we're going to crack down on cheaters that are stealing our jobs. >> china has cheated. that can't continue. >> and mr. romney has literally put his money where his mouth is in a perfectly timed move just before the republican primaries, mr. romney withdrew $75,000 in investments in china's state-owned oil companies and other companies. of course, he didn't do it it was his blind trust that did the divesting. >> the blind trust is an age-old rouse, if you will to say you can tell the blind trust what it can and cannot do. >> thank you for clearing that up. joining me jarod bernstein,

msnbc contributor and former chief economic adviser to vice president and robert trainam, an msnbc contributor, and former senior communications adviser for the bush/cheney campaign. can i ask you in all seriousness, does mr. romney's blind trust have excellent eyesight? it does seem strange his investments were withdrawn just before the primaries in his run for the white house? >> mitt romney was very right in that quote, you can tell your blind trust what to avoid. his blind trust had good eyes on that one. if you're an investor in a index fund pension fund or manage a p.e. shop like bain chances are your going to invest in emerging economies, of which china is one. nothing wrong with that. >> there's money to be made. >> there's nothing wrong with that. there's a big difference between

being investor in chief and president of the united states. this business of getting tough on china, we hear it all over the campaign trail, everybody does it it really comes down to what's in the details. and that i think is where mitt romney has been once again, insufficient. he says he would label china a currency manipulator but at the same time he's against legislation, bipartisan legislation, that would actually go hard against the fact china manages currency to are an advantage with its exports and put our imports at a competitive disadvantage. >> mr. romney scolded the president back in 2009 for defending american tire companies against chinese competition and i'm quoting him, production stifles productivity but he now has the president hasn't been hard enough on china. today the president responded. take a listen. >> when you hear this newfound outrage, you hear these ads

promising to get tough on china, it feels a lot like that fox saying, you know we need more secure chicken coops. >> robert i don't want to labor the point but we also learned romney supporters are planning a big fund-raiser for him tomorrow in hong kong. does mr. romney have any credibility when he attacks the president on china? >> very little to be completely honest with you. mitt romney is a politician and he's looking at the polls. the polls in florida, michigan ohio, huge in pennsylvania huge manufacturing states china is a major issue because obviously that average white male out there that depend on these jobs when he's manufacturing jobs see their jobs are going overseas. what mitt romney is doing is he's putting his finger up in the air, listening to the political and rhetorical winds out there and shifting his position and being an advocate for the american worker out there. the question is whether or not

the average person is going to buy it or not. >> jarod, to robert's point, it's good -- maybe good politics but a lack of subsubstantive policies. >> china has a very long record. by the way, i'm pretty sympathetic because they are an emerging, growing economy with a lot of people to employ. but they are the ones who by manipulating their currency values to make their exports cheaper and our imports to them more expensive, they are engaging in protectionism. unless you're willing to go after that pretty straight on pretty head on i think you're just blowing smoke here. now, on this china currency deal that said bipartisan support in the congress mitt romney said he's unequivocally against it. frankly, president obama has been luke warm on it as well. if it got to his desk i think he would sign it. >> i wish gentlemen, we had more time. thank you both. >> thank you. >> thank you.

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you're looking now at a live shot from kent, ohio, where moments from now the president will be taking the stage. the buckeye state's been pretty good to the incumbent in this year's election thus far. consider the latest polls. the president's building up a sizeable lead against his republican challenger. speaking of which, mitt romney's only got one week until his first debate as republican party's presidential nominee. is he feeling the heat? we're joined by perry bacon and domenico. how are you? good to have both of you. it seems like mr. romney has been preparing for this debate for something like the last six

or eight weeks. they say he does debate prep around the clock, in the bus, even when his butler is tying his shoes. is there something as too much preparation? >> i think that he's certainly -- these are important. i mean they're setting the expectations kind of low but we know they have been doing a lot of prep. you saw the obama campaign saying they take nothing for granted. mitt romney feeling some pressure wanting to have good debates. in the past we have seen him have good debates. in fact, rob portman setting those expect takings low saying mitt romney hasn't debated in ten years. i went back watched the entire 2002 massachusetts gubernatorial debate -- >> that's why we have you on this show. and he was very sharp, very specific, seemed to understand the state's problems better than

the incumbent state treasurer. some of the problems he may have this time around with the lack of specificity, i think, is one of the issues he may run into there. >> right. by comparison how much time do you think the president has been able to devote to debate preparation? because he obviously has a fairly full desk of responsibilities, doesn't he? >> his aides have been saying he doesn't have as much time as romney which is probably true. i do not believe for a second he has not prepared extensively for these debates. these debates are the only thing left for romney to win the campaign through. the president, i'm sure has prepped and made sure, how do i perform well and don't give romney a chance to sneak back into this race. as long as the president does well in these debates, he will win the election. there's no reason for him not to be practicing strongly. >> buzzfeed is reporting

conservative mormons circulating an e-mail to make september 13th a day of prayer and fasting for mr. romney so he'll succeed in his debate next week. i suppose mr. romney believes it's on a wing and a prayer does he? >> well, certainly they're going to prep very strongly very hard for this debate. he certainly has a strong group of followers and supporters who are going to be absolutely rooting for him, as the president does. i think they're taking it very seriously and not leaving anything to chance. >> perry to you do you think that mr. romney's recent experience during those republican primaries may lull him into a false sense of security since he was debating against einsteinian figures as herman cain and michele bachmann? >> i'm sure they know the difference between rick perry and mitt romney in debate prep.

they're not taking this for granted. he's done all this prep. obama was not great in the '08 debates and romney was not great in the 2012 debates, so there's room for both of these guys for improvement and i expect they're both studying hard to make sure they can do the best they can. i don't think they think michele bachmann and barack obama is similar in skill. >> thank goodness for that. gentlemen, thank you so much. >> thanks. we'll be back to clear the air. hungry for the best? it's eb. want to give your family the very best in taste, freshness and nutrition? it's eb. eggland's best. better taste. better nutrition. better eggs.

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the relationship of paul ryan to mitt romney, we've had to reach for some poetry. we are the hollow men. we are the stuffed men. leaning together, head piece filled with straw. these are lines from t.s. elliott's poe yem "the hollow men men" and were written after he discovered his wife was cheating on him with a nobel laureate. they seem to describe mr. romney and mr. ryan whose relationship also appears to be on the rocks. how could something which seemed to right goes so terribly wrong? when we first got a look at this couple, they seemed to good together. two conservative scare crows, both equally full of substance, both heartless and with hearts that beat as one. they beat on the poor, they beat on the weak they beat on the immigrant, they beat on the foreign. but now they're beating on each other. look at this latest bombshell

from poe from politico. mr. ryan has been marching around his campaign bus saying if stench calls, take a message. tell stench i'm having finger sandwiches with peggy noonan and we'll text later. that was satire from politico. can anyone save this marriage? well in a desperate attempt to do so the campaign has assigned neocon dan sr. to keep an eye on mr. ryan. but mr. ryan has gotten away from mr. sr. more quickly than those weapons of mass destruction that he once said were hidden in iraq. what comes next? traveling on separate planes to campaign events where enthusiasm is low and tension is high, the false smiles and pretense of a love affair that only survives when the cameras are on them? and then some final bickering and a bitter divorce. romney and ryan a marriage of convenience, if ever there was one. thanks so much for watching.

chris matthews is next. breaking away. let's play "hardball." ♪ good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, i want you to watch and listen to the next few minutes here.